THE JEWS AND THE MOSAIC LAW

Philadelphia; Printed For The Author, And Sold By E. L. Carey And A. Hart, 1833. Hardcover. [5594].1st edition. Original Cloth, Large 8vo. VIII, [1], 278 pages. 23 cm.
. Leeser's first book.Rosenbach 375; Singerman 0578.
"Part the First: Containing a Defence of the Revelation of the Pentateuch, and of the Jews for their adherence to the same." Bound with "Part the Second: Four Essays on the relative importance of Judaism and Christianity."
Leeser's first book, published in 1833, a spirited defense of Jewish faith and practice. Bound in original cloth boards, re-backed with a new paper spine label. An important milestone in the history of Judaism in America. "In 1834, [Leeser] published The Jews and Mosaic Law, a defense of the Revelation of the Pentateuch and of the Jews ‘for their adherence to same. ' The book's twenty-six chapters show wide reading in the contemporary religious literature. Leeser was aware that just as he was reading works on religion written by Christians, so too were many other young Jews. What was needed was a polemic arguing for loyalty to the ancestral faith and adherence to its ways. " (Abraham Karp, From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, 1991)
"In Aug. , 1829, Leeser went to Philadelphia with the manuscript of his first book (‘The Jews and the Mosaic Law') in his pocket and great thoughts for Israel in his mind. Up to that time the Hazzanim in America had been merely precentors. There was, however, a new movement in Europe. The Hamburg Temple had put forward Gotthold Salomon; and preaching in German had become the Reformed fashion, while the new Conservatives had met it by electing to the Hamburg rabbinate Bernays, who also delivered sermons in the vernacular. Something of this ferment had leavened the thoughts of Leeser; and he hoped to transform the reading-desk into the pulpit and the teacher's rod into the editorial wand. On June 2, 1830, he delivered his first English discourse, and thenceforward preached with reasonable regularity, though on sufferance only, until June 18, 1843, when the congregation formally accepted the sermon as regular. The scarcity of books concerning the Jewish religion emphasized the fact that there was no American Jewish publisher. Having translated Johlson's ‘Instruction in the Mosaic Religion, ' Leeser issued in the winter of 1829-30 proposals to publish it and ‘The Jews and the Mosaic Law. ' As no one would take the risk, however, he became his own publisher. " (1906 Jewish Encyclopedia).
A copy with several loose leaves and stains in a non-original worn and damanged binding sold at auction for over $1600 in 2014. Subjects: Judaism - Apologetic works. Judaism. Christianity and other religions - Judaism. Foxed. Lacks endpapers, small Heberw stamp on front pastedown. Paper spine label worn. Some generalized wear to the original pink cloth and paper label, Leeser's standard binding for the period, but the binding and paper has held up well. Good+ Condition. (AMR-44-2).